Jan 28, 2019
How will shutdown affect Fed decision-making?
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and the other members of the agency's Open Market Committee meet Tuesday for the first time this year.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and the other members of the agency's Open Market Committee meet Tuesday for the first time this year.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee, the FOMC, gathers on Tuesday and Wednesday for its first meeting of 2019, to set interest rates and try to keep the economy on an even keel. Back in mid-2018 the U.S. economy was running really hot and the Fed was raising interest rates to try and prevent overheating. Then in December, the market tanked and the government partially shut down, throwing a few wrenches into the machine. Now there’s another complication: The Fed is missing key economic reports that weren’t released during the partial government shutdown.